Comprehension Questions and Answers

Q: What, do you think, is the correct meaning of the term "bourgeois" ?

'Bourgeois' means middle class, with conventional, conservative and materialistic values.The word describes the middle class, and in the sense used here its outlook as conventional and materialistic. The passage calls the nationalist movement essentially bourgeois to say it came from that class and was not a working class movement.The working class, the agrarian class and a lower class with no fixed values are other social groups, and the passage sets the working class against 'bourgeois'.

Q: The word that is nearly opposite in meaning of 'defile' is ..................

The nearly opposite word is sanctify.To 'defile' is to make something impure, to spoil or desecrate it. To 'sanctify' is to make holy or pure, the opposite.'Decry' means to criticise publicly and 'devaluate' to reduce in value, both closer to defile than opposite to it. 'Satiate' means to satisfy fully and is unrelated.

Q: According to the passage the close meaning of 'connotation' is ...........

The close meaning of 'connotation' is invoked meanings.A connotation is an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning. When the passage says political education has many connotations, it means the term suggests or implies several ideas.'Different meanings' is too loose, since a connotation is an associated meaning rather than a separate definition. 'Similar meanings' describes synonyms, and 'invited meanings' is not an accepted sense of the word.

Q: How has politics been related to educational institutions ?

The answer is that there was quite a lot of political interference without political support.The passage says the wise academicians wanted political support without political interference, and then states: "What we have actually received is infinite political interference with little genuine political support." That is exactly option D.Option A is wrong because the passage says interference has greatly increased. Option B is wrong because there was interference. Option C reverses the position: it says support was received at the cost of interference, but the passage says genuine support was little, so the interference did not buy any real support.

Q: This passage says that early instruments for measuring earthquakes were .................... .

The key gives not sensitive enough.The passage describes the first devices, rods of different lengths standing on end like ninepins, and then says instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The rods gave only a crude indication, whether and which way they fell, and could not trace the movements as the quake passed. Calling for 'far more delicate' instruments says the early ones lacked the delicacy, in other words the sensitivity, serious study needed.The passage never calls the early rods faulty in design (they did what they were meant to do), expensive or not sturdy; those are claims the text does not make.

Q: The author says that it was necessary to invent instruments to observe an earthquake because ...................... .

The key gives that an earthquake comes all of a sudden like a thief.The passage opens: An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. The word 'therefore' ties the need for watchful instruments directly to the lack of warning: a quake gives no notice, so something has to be always on guard to record it.Proving technical soundness, showing expertise and keeping busy are motives the author never mentions, so those three options are unsupported by the passage.

Q: The earlier device consisting of rods was replaced because it failed .................... .

The key gives that the rod device failed to record the movements with a pen on paper.The rods only showed, by whether and in which direction they fell, how strong the shock was and where it came from. The passage then states the next aim: to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. So the thing the rods could not do, and the reason a better design was sought, was to make a written record of the movements.The other options describe things the rods did manage: if it were severe they all fell (so a severe quake was measured), if it were gentle the unstable ones fell (a gentle quake was measured), and the direction of fall recorded the direction of the quake.

Q: The everyday observation mentioned in the passage is related to ................. .

The everyday observation is the tendency of a standing person to fall when a bus or train moves suddenly.The passage poses the problem of writing legibly when table, pen and paper all move, and says its solution lay in an everyday observation: Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still. The point is that the heavy, still part (the head, and in a seismograph the suspended mass) lags behind the moving base.The movement of the vehicle, the passengers standing in it and the sudden start of the train are all parts of the scene, but the observation itself is about the person's tendency to fall, so only the first option states it.

Q: According to the passage, the meaning of the word 'slumber' is ..................... .

In the passage, 'slumber' means sleep.The word occurs in recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him. A shock too weak to waken someone must be acting on a person who is asleep, and the earlier phrase 'instruments that neither slumbered nor slept' also pairs 'slumbered' with 'slept' as near equivalents.A shock is what the rods record, not what 'slumber' means; 'ground' and 'suggestion' appear elsewhere in the passage in other roles and do not fit 'too weak to waken him'.

Q: What does the author mean when he says that since the last decade, the higher education sector has been occupying a dominant position in the economic planning process ?

The author means that comparatively more financial support is given to the higher education sector during the last decade.The passage ties the sector's 'dominant position in the economic planning process' to public money: it quotes the allocation of ₹ 19,800 crores to universities and other higher education under the Twelfth Five Year Plan and to the aim of expansion, excellence and equity. A dominant place in planning therefore means a larger share of planned spending.Nothing in the passage is about political dominance of the decade (A), the sector overpowering other sectors (B), or the finance department's policy makers dominating (C). 'Dominant position' describes the sector's weight in the plan, not any person or party.

Direction for [ Question No: 91 To 91 ] :

Directions : Answer the questions based on either English passage or Marathi passage :

It should be remembered that the Nationalist Movement in India, like all nationalist movements, was essentially a bourgeois movement. It represented the natural historical stage of development, and to consider it or to criticize it as a working class movement is wrong. Gandhi represented that movement, and the Indian masses in relation to that movement to a supreme degree, and he became the voice of Indian people to that extent. The main contribution of Gandhi to India and the Indian masses has been through the powerful movements that he launched through the National Congress. Through nation-wide action, he sought to mould the millions and largely succeeded in doing so. He changed them from a demoralized, timid, and hopeless mass, bullied and crushed by every dominant interest and incapable of resistance, to people with self-respect and self-reliance, resisting tyranny, and capable of united action and sacrifice for a larger cause. Gandhi made people think of political and economic issues, and every village and every bazaar hummed with arguments and debates on the new ideas and hopes that filled the people.

In case of very exceptional person, like Gandhi, the question of personality becomes especially important in order to understand and appraise him. To us, he represented the spirit and honour of India, the yearning of her sorrowing millions to be rid of their innumerable burdens. An insult to him by the British Government or others was an insult to India and her people.

91.

What, do you think, is the correct meaning of the term "bourgeois" ?

A.Working class with utilitarian values
B.Agrarian class with moral values
C.Middle class with conventional, conservative and materialistic values
D.Lower class with no fixed values

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: C

'Bourgeois' means middle class, with conventional, conservative and materialistic values.

The word describes the middle class, and in the sense used here its outlook as conventional and materialistic. The passage calls the nationalist movement essentially bourgeois to say it came from that class and was not a working class movement.

The working class, the agrarian class and a lower class with no fixed values are other social groups, and the passage sets the working class against 'bourgeois'.

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Direction for [ Question No: 92 To 94 ] :

Directions :
Answer the questions based on either the English passage or the Marathi passage :

Political education has many connotations. It may be defined as the preparation of a citizen to take well informed, responsible and sustained action for participation in the national struggle in order to achieve the socio-economic objectives of the country. The predominant socio-economic objectives in India are the abolition of poverty and the creation of an egalitarian society that would replace the present traditional, feudal, hierarchical social setup.

Under the colonial rule, the Congress leaders argued that political education was an important part of education and refused to accept the official view that education and politics should not be mixed with one another. But when they came to power in 1947 they almost adopted the British policy and began to talk of education being defiled by politics. ‘Hands off education’ was the call to political parties. But in spite of it, political infiltration into the educational system has greatly increased in the sense that different political parties vie with each other to capture the mind of teachers and students. The wise academicians wanted political support, without political interference. What we have actually received is infinite political interference with little genuine political support. This interference with the educational system by political parties for their own ulterior motives is no political education at all and with the all round growth of elitism, it is hardly a matter for surprise that real political education within the school system (which really means the creation of a commitment to social transformation) has been even weaker than in the pre-independence period.

92.

The word that is nearly opposite in meaning of 'defile' is ..................

A.Sanctify
B.Decry
C.Devaluate
D.Satiate

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: A

The nearly opposite word is sanctify.

To 'defile' is to make something impure, to spoil or desecrate it. To 'sanctify' is to make holy or pure, the opposite.

'Decry' means to criticise publicly and 'devaluate' to reduce in value, both closer to defile than opposite to it. 'Satiate' means to satisfy fully and is unrelated.

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93.

According to the passage the close meaning of 'connotation' is ...........

A.Different meanings
B.Invoked meanings
C.Similar meanings
D.Invited meanings

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: B

The close meaning of 'connotation' is invoked meanings.

A connotation is an idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal meaning. When the passage says political education has many connotations, it means the term suggests or implies several ideas.

'Different meanings' is too loose, since a connotation is an associated meaning rather than a separate definition. 'Similar meanings' describes synonyms, and 'invited meanings' is not an accepted sense of the word.

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94.

How has politics been related to educational institutions ?

A.There was no political interference even though they got political support
B.There was neither political support nor political interference
C.They got political support at the cost of political interference
D.Without political support, there was quite a lot political interference

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2023, SET Exam - 2023,

Answer: D

The answer is that there was quite a lot of political interference without political support.

The passage says the wise academicians wanted political support without political interference, and then states: "What we have actually received is infinite political interference with little genuine political support." That is exactly option D.

Option A is wrong because the passage says interference has greatly increased. Option B is wrong because there was interference. Option C reverses the position: it says support was received at the cost of interference, but the passage says genuine support was little, so the interference did not buy any real support.

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Direction for [ Question No: 95 To 99 ] :

Directions : Answer the questions based on either the English passage or the Marathi passage :

An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus, the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could, in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments (seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, penholder and paper are all moving how is it possible to write legibly ? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made ? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.

95.

This passage says that early instruments for measuring earthquakes were .................... .

A.Faulty in design
B.Expensive
C.Not sensitive enough
D.Not sturdy

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: C

The key gives not sensitive enough.

The passage describes the first devices, rods of different lengths standing on end like ninepins, and then says instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious advance was to be made. The rods gave only a crude indication, whether and which way they fell, and could not trace the movements as the quake passed. Calling for 'far more delicate' instruments says the early ones lacked the delicacy, in other words the sensitivity, serious study needed.

The passage never calls the early rods faulty in design (they did what they were meant to do), expensive or not sturdy; those are claims the text does not make.

Discuss in Forum

96.

The author says that it was necessary to invent instruments to observe an earthquake because ...................... .

A.We have to prove that we are technically sound
B.An earthquake comes all of a sudden like a thief
C.It will allow us to show our expertise
D.We have to keep ourselves busy

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: B

The key gives that an earthquake comes all of a sudden like a thief.

The passage opens: An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary, therefore to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. The word 'therefore' ties the need for watchful instruments directly to the lack of warning: a quake gives no notice, so something has to be always on guard to record it.

Proving technical soundness, showing expertise and keeping busy are motives the author never mentions, so those three options are unsupported by the passage.

Discuss in Forum

97.

The earlier device consisting of rods was replaced because it failed .................... .

A.To measure a severe earthquake
B.To record the direction of the earthquake
C.To measure a gentle earthquake
D.To record the movements with a pen on paper

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: D

The key gives that the rod device failed to record the movements with a pen on paper.

The rods only showed, by whether and in which direction they fell, how strong the shock was and where it came from. The passage then states the next aim: to devise an instrument that could record with a pen on paper the movements of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed by. So the thing the rods could not do, and the reason a better design was sought, was to make a written record of the movements.

The other options describe things the rods did manage: if it were severe they all fell (so a severe quake was measured), if it were gentle the unstable ones fell (a gentle quake was measured), and the direction of fall recorded the direction of the quake.

Discuss in Forum

98.

The everyday observation mentioned in the passage is related to ................. .

A.The tendency of a standing person to fall when a bus or train moves suddenly
B.The movement of a bus or train
C.The passengers standing in a bus or train
D.The sudden start of a train

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: A

The everyday observation is the tendency of a standing person to fall when a bus or train moves suddenly.

The passage poses the problem of writing legibly when table, pen and paper all move, and says its solution lay in an everyday observation: Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still. The point is that the heavy, still part (the head, and in a seismograph the suspended mass) lags behind the moving base.

The movement of the vehicle, the passengers standing in it and the sudden start of the train are all parts of the scene, but the observation itself is about the person's tendency to fall, so only the first option states it.

Discuss in Forum

99.

According to the passage, the meaning of the word 'slumber' is ..................... .

A.Shock
B.Sleep
C.Ground
D.Suggestion

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2021, SET Exam - 2021,

Answer: B

In the passage, 'slumber' means sleep.

The word occurs in recorded for the slumbering scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him. A shock too weak to waken someone must be acting on a person who is asleep, and the earlier phrase 'instruments that neither slumbered nor slept' also pairs 'slumbered' with 'slept' as near equivalents.

A shock is what the rods record, not what 'slumber' means; 'ground' and 'suggestion' appear elsewhere in the passage in other roles and do not fit 'too weak to waken him'.

Discuss in Forum

Direction for [ Question No: 100 To 100 ] :

Answer the questions based on either the English passage or the Marathi passage :

The role of higher education is unquestionable in building a modern economy and an equitable society and the scope of higher education in India has been steadily growing. According to the Twelfth Five Year Plan (Planning Commission 2017), the allocation of public spending on universities and other higher education was ₹ 19,800 crores. The New India NITI Aayog Vision (2031-32) has mentioned a fully literate population as one of its benchmarks. Since the last decade, the higher education sector has been occupying a dominant position in the economic planning process. The government policy in this context aims to attain expansion, excellence and equity; taking higher education initiatives which can enable India to match up to global standards.

While higher education equips people with relevant skill sets in the open labour market, making them upwardly mobile against socio-economic parameters, the same is not reflected in the academic labour market. Today, a significant proportion of highly educated professionals are stuck in a volatile academic ecosystem. They are recruited on ad hoc basis and their is no formal law to govern the terms and conditions of their contractual engagement. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 primarily covers blue-collar job incumbents, keeping their white-collar counterparts outside its ambit. The growing number of universities (58%) cannot alone fulfill the criteria of expansion, with negative growth in absolute increase in employment. The growth in enrolment rate of students is expected to reach 25.2% by 2017-18 from 17.9% in 2011-12 (Planning Commission 2017). The question is if the targeted growth in enrolment rate is aligned with the number of quality teachers in higher education.

100.

What does the author mean when he says that since the last decade, the higher education sector has been occupying a dominant position in the economic planning process ?

A.The last decade in political scenario is more dominant than the previous ones.
B.The higher education sector is dominating the other sectors.
C.The policy makers with finance department have been dominant during the last decade.
D.Comparatively more financial support is given to higher education sector during the last decade.

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2020, SET Exam - 2020,

Answer: D

The author means that comparatively more financial support is given to the higher education sector during the last decade.

The passage ties the sector's 'dominant position in the economic planning process' to public money: it quotes the allocation of ₹ 19,800 crores to universities and other higher education under the Twelfth Five Year Plan and to the aim of expansion, excellence and equity. A dominant place in planning therefore means a larger share of planned spending.

Nothing in the passage is about political dominance of the decade (A), the sector overpowering other sectors (B), or the finance department's policy makers dominating (C). 'Dominant position' describes the sector's weight in the plan, not any person or party.

Comprehension Questions and Answers

Direction for [ Question No: 91 To 91 ] :

Direction for [ Question No: 92 To 94 ] :

Direction for [ Question No: 95 To 99 ] :

Direction for [ Question No: 100 To 100 ] :

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Comprehension Questions and Answers

Direction for [ Question No: 91 To 91 ] :

Direction for [ Question No: 92 To 94 ] :

Direction for [ Question No: 95 To 99 ] :

Direction for [ Question No: 100 To 100 ] :

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